This was my first time making my own fondant, and in future I'll buy it rather than make it because it gave me a lot of problems. Luckily little Diy has been to a few cupcake decorating parties at a local shop, Faboo Cakes, and learned all the basics.

So, armed with my trusty little girl's knowledge, a mountain of powdered sugar and sheer will power, I set to work.

I ended up having to add a LOT more powdered sugar to my DIY fondant because the consistency wasn't right. It was too soft and sticky. It was also really greasy, which I wasn't expecting. I mean, yes it has a lot of Crisco in it but still...

My other problem was in dyeing the fondant. I chose to go with black for the caps and picked a gel food coloring (as suggested). It took a TON of color to make any kind of progress toward black. It was purple for a long time! Maybe my piece of fondant was too big??

I finally got it to the point where I thought it was dark enough and was ready to roll and cut. My fondant was still squishy and not stiff so I had to work additional powdered sugar into it while I was working with it.

So when you look at my rather wonky graduation caps and think they look a little strange...don't judge!! I went through hell and high water to make them!! However, once I added them to the cupcakes, they looked really cute.

And I ended up tossing the fondant diplomas I made because they were definitely a fail!! So I rolled up some paper strips instead and tied them with ribbons in my son's school colors. Mounted on toothpicks, they were easy to stick into the icing.

The homemade cupcakes were fabulous, I followed this recipe from Crazy For Crust for perfect vanilla cupcakes. My house smelled like a bakery and although I didn't sample a cupcake, I did lick the batter off a spoon and it was divine!! Once cooled, I put them in the freezer until the graduation party when I'll pull them out and frost them. I'm planning on using the Special Buttercream Frosting recipe from Allrecipes, based on the 911 positive reviews.

Have you made your own fondant before? Or your own fondant cupcake toppers?

The edible grad caps were a big hit with my graduate (he ate three!!). Score!

If you're looking for more DIY graduation ideas that are affordable and will save you a ton of money, be sure to check out these posts.

Graduation Memory Wreath  |  Tree of Wisdom for Grad  |  DIY Graduation Announcements

I'll be honest...as fun as the decorating and planning have been...it's also been very emotional and stressful and I've shed a few tears along the way as I've reminisced and thought of how the years have flown by...have I been a good enough mom? did I teach him everything he'll need to know? will he be okay on his own? I know there will be more of that in the days and weeks ahead, but God has his hand on my son and I'm learning to unclench my fists a little more each day. Maybe by the time August 21 rolls around I'll be ready to say goodbye.

bringing beauty to the ordinary,

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